iPhone 3g Reception Problems

While the iPhone has been a great success in sales during its first month with 3 million unit sold, the 3g phone has been hampered by problems from iTunes activation failing to cracks in the casing.

Add another issue to the list. Service. Many users are reporting issues with connectivity and their 3g iPhones. The an Francisco Chronicle reported the issues of one user. "I was driving down Folsom Street in San Francisco, and I got a dropped call 10 times. I get dropped calls just standing in one place," said Yarbrough, a 34-year-old accountant. "I'm extremely annoyed, but I'm hopeful a software update will fix it."

Mobile carriers of the iPhone 3g have conflicting comments concerning the situation. AT&T Spokesman Mike Siegel summed up AT&T's response that there is no real widespread evidence of an issue. "How a device performs in individual situations depends on circumstances like where you are in the 3G coverage, how close you are to a cell site. Things like terrain and buildings all come into play," Siegel said. "I'm not denying that people are having a less than satisfactory experience, but overall, the phone is doing great."

On the other hand T-Mobile Netherlands is putting blame for the connection issues directly upon the iPhone itself. "The 3G coverage of T-Mobile is as good as the competition, there can therefore not lie. We suspect that it is a hardware / software specific issue of the iPhone itself."

T-Mobiles statement appears to follow the theory speculated by Nomura analyst Richard Windsor in a note to his clients about the iPhone's 3g chipset. Windsor said that “We believe that these issues are typical of an immature chipset and radio protocol stack where we are almost certain Infineon is the 3G supplier"

If the problem does in fact stem from an immature chipset then the issue will most likely not be able to be fixed via a software. This would leave Apple in the awkward position of replacing over 3 million iPhones or not acknowledging any issues to the detriment of its users.

Do you have reception problems? Take our poll at the top of this thread.